bike trip

greybeard64
greybeard64 Member Posts: 254
edited March 2014 in Colorectal Cancer #1
I thought I might try to add to the good news posts. As some of you know, I am fond of motorcycles, and nothing beats a long trip through this beautiful country of ours. I have not had the ability to take such a trip in quite awhile, but that is no longer the case. A friend of mine recently bought a bike himself. He used to ride and I know my condition played a big part in him reaquiring one. last week my wife and I, and he and his wife took off on the bikes for a week. I let them know that we may have a some short days, depending on how the bowel was feeling and that mornings were never kind to me, and no one cared. We set a course for Virginia (we live near St. Louis, but in Illinois) and took off. It was really the journey and not the destination.
We only averaged about 250 miles a day, which is not alot to some people, but it was FANTASTIC! We made it to Virginia and North Carolina before we headed back home. It was relaxing, beautiful, and the company (my firend and his wife) made it all the sweeter. We rode the Blue Ridge Scenic By-way (If you have a chance the scenery is amazing!), saw the Nada tunnel, and as usuall when on a bike trip ran into one friendly person after another, including the grandson of the original Hatfield family. Those of the Hatfield and McCoys fued.
It was nice to be back on the open road again, and reminded me of earlier days when cancer was just something I had heard about.
Since returning home I am in the process of getting off the dreaded OXY pain pills. I figured my mind was as right as it was ever going to be to tackle that. This weekend (sat.) will make one week, and if my stomach stops throwing fits I think I have it whooped! Starting to feel less cloudy and energy is returning. Ill post some pics for those interested.
thanks for letting me share. Hope this finds ya smilin'
greybeard
chris
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Comments

  • christinecarl
    christinecarl Member Posts: 544 Member
    #2
    awesome
    Congrats on the trip, it sounded beautiful. I am glad you were able to reclaim a part of your life that you enjoy and were able to ride with an old friend.
  • AnneCan
    AnneCan Member Posts: 3,673 Member
    #3
    Awesome!
    Or as my husband would say, "now that's living!", only he says "now that's living girl!". it sounds like a wonderful time; good for you!
  • abmb
    abmb Member Posts: 311
    #4
    Great
    Chris, great to hear you were able to take a trip like that. It must have been wonderful for you to ride again. Now you know how far you traveled, maybe next time you will be able to go a little further. Take care and enjoy. Margaret
  • lizzydavis
    lizzydavis Member Posts: 893
    #5
    abmb said:

    Great
    Chris, great to hear you were able to take a trip like that. It must have been wonderful for you to ride again. Now you know how far you traveled, maybe next time you will be able to go a little further. Take care and enjoy. Margaret

    Post some Pics please!

    Post some Pics please!
  • Patti1
    Patti1 Member Posts: 109 Member
    #6
    Thanks..Looking Forward to Some Pics
    Chris,

    Thank you so much for the upbeat posting, my husband and I are leaving Sept 9th to go from Florida to the Smokies, we can not wait. We are going for 9 days on the motorcycle. We also will take it slow, we will be leaving with the newly acquired shingles, the colostomy bag in the wind and some pain pills (just trying to have a bit of humor), just can not wait to see our picture on the Tail of The Dragon. I look forward to seeing your pics.and will send you some of ours when we get back.

    Patti
  • Kathryn_in_MN
    Kathryn_in_MN Member Posts: 1,252 Member
    #7
    Sounds like a wonderful trip
    Sounds like a wonderful trip, and good timing for you. I'm glad you got to go on this trip, and hope it spurs many more. Congrats on getting off the oxycodone too! I'm glad that is going well for you.
  • tootsie1
    tootsie1 Member Posts: 5,044 Member
    #8
    Missed you!
    I wish I'd known when you were coming through NC!

    *hugs*
    Gail
  • idlehunters
    idlehunters Member Posts: 1,787 Member
    #9
    tootsie1 said:

    Missed you!
    I wish I'd known when you were coming through NC!

    *hugs*
    Gail

    Hey Chris
    Sounds like a fantastic time. Me and hubby went on ride some years back to Louisville for the flat track races... had an awesome time... so I can relate in a small way. Just the freedom is enough to put a smile on your face. I am so glad you, the wife and your friends had such a great time. It so helps to feel half a$$ normal again. You take care my friend.

    Jennie
  • msccolon
    msccolon Member Posts: 1,917 Member
    #10
    awesome
    I live not too far from where you made it to in NC! It really is beautiful this time of year and it's always good to see the motorcycles out there enjoying it! I hope you get to make many more trips in the future!
    mary
  • herdizziness
    herdizziness Member Posts: 3,624 Member
    #11
    The wind in your hair, the bugs in the teeth
    LOL. Glad you had a good trip. The best I've done trip wise, was to buy Giant tickets and send my son, his girl and my husband away to the game. Gave them time to get away from "cancer". And me, while they were gone, I had a wonderful time falling asleep in my favorite chair outside in the shade. A good day for all.
    I'm glad your getting off the oxy. Praying it'll get easier for you.
    Winter Marie
  • greybeard64
    greybeard64 Member Posts: 254
    #12
    msccolon said:

    awesome
    I live not too far from where you made it to in NC! It really is beautiful this time of year and it's always good to see the motorcycles out there enjoying it! I hope you get to make many more trips in the future!
    mary

    pics are up
    thanks for all the posts and well wishes as always you guys and gals are great! Had I known we were passing through the neighborhoods of a few of you I would have gave ya a shout. Would have been fun to share a cup of coffee, or maybe some ensure. :)! You are right it is beautiful in that neck of the woods.
    I have posted some pics. I think? I believe they are on my page, dont know if there are other places to post, and I have tried this before so...as you can see I am not exactly computer savvy, or internet savvy, H#$$ I aint even 20th century savvy, I still have a flashing 12:00 on the VCR player thats hooked to the console TV and stereo combination currently residing on the orange shag carpet of my sunken living room. ;P. So I posted pics, hopefully.
    chris
  • Nana b
    Nana b Member Posts: 3,030 Member
    #13
    herdizziness said:

    The wind in your hair, the bugs in the teeth
    LOL. Glad you had a good trip. The best I've done trip wise, was to buy Giant tickets and send my son, his girl and my husband away to the game. Gave them time to get away from "cancer". And me, while they were gone, I had a wonderful time falling asleep in my favorite chair outside in the shade. A good day for all.
    I'm glad your getting off the oxy. Praying it'll get easier for you.
    Winter Marie

    Awesome!
    Fun!! Glad you could make the trip!
  • RickMurtagh
    RickMurtagh Member Posts: 587 Member
    #14
    Sweet!
    Sweet! I am so happy you had the opportunity and it was great.
  • lisa42
    lisa42 Member Posts: 3,625 Member
    #15
    Glad to hear of your road trip
    Thanks for sharing your fun experience of the roadtrip on the bikes!
    By the way, do you live anywhere near Mt. Vernon, IL? I have some relatives there. If I remember correctly, it's about an hour drive from St. Louis on the Illinois side. It's been about ten years since I've been there.

    Prayers coming your way for dealing with getting off the oxy- you can do it!

    Lisa
  • greybeard64
    greybeard64 Member Posts: 254
    #16
    lisa42 said:

    Glad to hear of your road trip
    Thanks for sharing your fun experience of the roadtrip on the bikes!
    By the way, do you live anywhere near Mt. Vernon, IL? I have some relatives there. If I remember correctly, it's about an hour drive from St. Louis on the Illinois side. It's been about ten years since I've been there.

    Prayers coming your way for dealing with getting off the oxy- you can do it!

    Lisa

    Mt Vernon
    Hey lisa,
    but of course I know where Mt. Vernon is located. and you are correct in your thinking. Its about an hour from St. louis. Its a nice place, have been there a few times and pass by it often its probably 30 minutes are so from me, I am just north of St. Louis and 12 miles from the Mississippi River in Glen Carbon. You might now Edwardsville which is the neighboring town, and by neighboring I mean you cant tell where one ends and the other starts, lol.
    small world at times isnt it. And thanks for the prayers!
    chris
  • greybeard64
    greybeard64 Member Posts: 254
    #17
    herdizziness said:

    The wind in your hair, the bugs in the teeth
    LOL. Glad you had a good trip. The best I've done trip wise, was to buy Giant tickets and send my son, his girl and my husband away to the game. Gave them time to get away from "cancer". And me, while they were gone, I had a wonderful time falling asleep in my favorite chair outside in the shade. A good day for all.
    I'm glad your getting off the oxy. Praying it'll get easier for you.
    Winter Marie

    Thx Marie!
    Man I was going to give you the business about sending your family to a lousy Giants game, and then I remembered I root for the Rams (3 wins in 2 years) and decided to keep my mouth shut, lol. As for napping in a good chair in the shade that is how this old keester of mine recovers from those bike rides, hand me that ice tea would ya?
    Thanks for the prayers, its getting easier everyday!
    Chris
  • Unknown
    Unknown
    #18
    greybeard64 said:

    Mt Vernon
    Hey lisa,
    but of course I know where Mt. Vernon is located. and you are correct in your thinking. Its about an hour from St. louis. Its a nice place, have been there a few times and pass by it often its probably 30 minutes are so from me, I am just north of St. Louis and 12 miles from the Mississippi River in Glen Carbon. You might now Edwardsville which is the neighboring town, and by neighboring I mean you cant tell where one ends and the other starts, lol.
    small world at times isnt it. And thanks for the prayers!
    chris

    This comment has been removed by the Moderator
  • coolvdub
    coolvdub Member Posts: 408 Member
    #19
    unknown said:

    This comment has been removed by the Moderator

    Sounds like you had a great trip
    Hey Chris,

    Really great you could get out and have some fun doing something you love. I will be getting a bike hopefully in the next couple of months. I hope it will be as fun as I believe it to be. I had to get some balance issues handled, but since the physical therapy seems to have worked. I just need to wait a little while and make sure, then let the fun begin. Great pictures by the way, I think you are more tech savvy then you let on.

    Don
  • herdizziness
    herdizziness Member Posts: 3,624 Member
    #20
    greybeard64 said:

    Thx Marie!
    Man I was going to give you the business about sending your family to a lousy Giants game, and then I remembered I root for the Rams (3 wins in 2 years) and decided to keep my mouth shut, lol. As for napping in a good chair in the shade that is how this old keester of mine recovers from those bike rides, hand me that ice tea would ya?
    Thanks for the prayers, its getting easier everyday!
    Chris

    Ice tea is brewing. LOL.
    Ice tea is brewing. LOL. And yes, the Giants lost that game.
  • greybeard64
    greybeard64 Member Posts: 254
    #21
    coolvdub said:

    Sounds like you had a great trip
    Hey Chris,

    Really great you could get out and have some fun doing something you love. I will be getting a bike hopefully in the next couple of months. I hope it will be as fun as I believe it to be. I had to get some balance issues handled, but since the physical therapy seems to have worked. I just need to wait a little while and make sure, then let the fun begin. Great pictures by the way, I think you are more tech savvy then you let on.

    Don

    Gracie and Don
    Hey Gracie, Sounds like you had a good group to ride with! I am sorry to hear that you no longer are able to continue with it, but I understand. And you are right about the "van" I think that would have hurt more then helped. Maybe a convertible?? top down wind in your hair...I know it aint the same but. I like the "geritol gang", what a hoot! and 250 to 300 miles a day is a nice pace I think. I know for us even in my prime we didnt do much more then that because we found to many places and things to stop and investigate, and a lot of time talking to other travelers, or the locals. Seems when you are on a bike people are just naturally curious about what you are doing, where you are going, etc. From experience I can say that I have met more people while traveling on two wheels then I ever have while in a car. Strange maybe but true.
    Glad you "few little spills" were nothing serious, and congrats on facing your nervousness and having a great time. someone said you should do one thing that scares you everyday, and while in theroy I agree, lets just say some of people dont scare easy, lol!

    Don, You are in for a great time. I am happy your balance issues are better, that was one of the issues for me as well. If this is your first bike I would like to suggest a training course. Dont know about your area but around here they run a couple a year and are very popular. When the kids were old enough for me to ride again I signed up myself, figured a refresher wouldnt be a bad idea, and while I had a lot of experience I still learned a few things and it got me back in the motorcycle frame of mind so to speak. Defensive riding is a must.
    good luck, have fun, and remember that smile plastered on your face as you ride is an invitation bugs! LOL. who knows maybe some day we will meet out on the road somewhere? better start practicing your "biker wave" so it'll be cool and smooth when ya hit the open road!

    Thx everyone for the kind words
    hope this finds ya smilin
    Chris

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